"We have a very good relationship with Caxton and do most of their work," said Keystone's Christopher Bolton. He has already been briefed on next year's event and perhaps this has something to do with his perfectionist nature and the copious amounts of time he spends on pre-production design and planning. "I feel it gives me the edge on most productions I am involved in."
Keystone Productions handled the entire awards including all the content. Bolton stepped in as production designer and lighting designer, which enabled him to create the overall look and feel. His lighting show and the use of HD Projection added a modern twist and there was much interest as four new Philips Vari-Lite VLX Wash lights were added to the rig. The opening sequence included a combination of old theatre tricks using HD projections onto a gauze with back lit silhouette effects with the artists behind the gauze.
"We selected some great South African artists for the event including Ciano Sky, Elvis Blue, Ice Project and Jannie Moolman," Bolton explained. "On rehearsal day we had 20 minutes with each act to plot lighting, video and choreography with sound checks for two songs for each act. That is crazy by any standards and I suppose trying to eat something while programming was definitely something that made me smile, and of course anybody that watched me try do that."
The lighting rig included four Vari-lite VLX Wash lights, six Martin MAC 600 Wash , four MAC 250 Wash, eight MAC 700 Profiles and four MAC 250 Entour, plus 24 ETC Source Fours and a range of other conventional fixtures for ambient lighting. Le Maitre Hazers provided the atmospheric effects.
(Jim Evans)
